What These Blind Eyes See
by Amethyst Lynn Willow
Summary: What happens when Neji gets a retrival mission and finds himself bringing a young girl back to Konoha. What new trouble and excitment will she bring for Neji and friends.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of it's characters. The only thing I own is the clan and its history I devised with the collaborative efforts of a friend.**

**Story: What These Blind Eyes See**

**Chapter 1: The Unknown**

**Characters: Hyuuga Neji/OC**

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The rain was coming down hard as if needles were biting her skin as she ran. The ground had turned to mush under her feet, the mud sucking at her steps. She forced herself to move faster as she heard the sounds of ninja dogs being released behind her. Thunder and lightning crashed above her. The dogs started to close in from behind. A trembling, feathered burden tucked under her arm as she blindly ran, mud and other fouler things clinging to her body.

Her run came to a halt as she slammed head first into what felt like a cobble stone wall. She slumped to the ground, pain racking her bloodied head. Eager hands wrapped around her throat from behind, choking off her air. She struggled but it was useless as more hands came out of the dark to hold her down.

As she fought for air, she thought she heard the faint whoosh of kunai knives flying overhead and the flair of chakra in the distance. Next thing she knew the hands pining her fell away.

A gruff voice shouted indistinguishable things, the words made no sense to her ears. Feet were running past her. The last thing she felt was the gentle touch of rain slicked fingers. Comfort flooded her small frame and she knew no more.

***

After sending Lee and Tenten to pursue their charge's attackers, he turned to the female in question and gently rolled her over. Kneeling down, he carefully lifted her from the ground, holding the unconscious girl bridal style; her head resting on his shoulder.

"Byakugan," Neji exclaimed, the veins grew around his eyes, activating his clans bloodline limit.

He used his chakra empowered eyes to scan her body swiftly for any internal injuries or fatal conditions. Disturbingly, along with numerous surface injuries he found two broken ribs on her left side. Curiously when scanning her, he noticed the skeletal and chakra image of a bird nestled under her arm.

He took in her blood-spattered appearance. She was bloody from head to toe, her hair and clothes were matted to her skin. He noticed that in one hand she clutched a kunai knife.

"_Is this slip of a girl, the Hokage sent us for, a shinobi?"_Neji thought to himself.

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**Well that's just the start to this story. Please review and give me your thoughts and ideas. This story is beta read by Wierdo-Lover. Please check out her Neji story titled "The Middle". It's really good trust me.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey all I'm finally ready to give you chapter two. I hope you like it.**

**Disclaimer: As always I don't own Naruto in any way shape or form. If I did I wouldn't have to return Neji-kun when I was done playing with him**

**Story: What These Blind Eyes See**

**Chapter 2: Arrival**

**Characters: Hyuuga Neji/OC**

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For the most part, she only had a vague awareness of her surroundings. She was mostly subdued by unconsciousness, but she still had limited access to her senses. For instance, she was very aware of the throbbing pain in her head.

As she tried to bury the pain, she reached out with her addled mind to see what else she could discern. The first thing she noticed was smell; a strong woodsy smell assaulted her senses as her prone body breathed. The next thing she became aware of was a tickling sensation on her cheek; she could only conclude that it was hair, as she felt a strong breeze rushing over the front of her body.

_'I must be moving very quickly…but how?'_ She was puzzled by this, seeing as she couldn't even open her eyes, let alone be moving at the settled pace.

Almost as if in answer to her mental query, she became aware of strong arms holding her. This feeling caused an odd tightening in her chest; for a second she couldn't breathe. She felt the arms shift and adjust, pulling her up against what she presumed to be her captor's chest, as one arm slid more securely lengthwise on her body. This new position gave her the odd sensation of being cradled. Suddenly her captors scent filled her senses, overwhelming the smell of trees.

_'Definitely male,'_ was her first thought as it washed over her.

At first she could only smell his sweat and the fact that he probably hadn't bathed in a couple of days. Underneath that odor though, she could smell his chakra flow; it was powerful but not erratic, she could tell it was tightly controlled.

_'Ninja…?'_ she questioned mentally, but of course received no answer.

Intrigued, she dug deeper, trying to reach the base of his scent; the smell that came naturally, the one a person is born with. After sifting through all the other smells, she found it. It was surprisingly light and airy, like a summer's breeze that carried with it an earthy, almost floral scent. Some would mistake this for a woman's smell, but to her, it was distinctly male. Oddly enough, this stranger's flowery scent made her feel so protected, that she allowed herself to give into the pounding in her head, letting unconsciousness consume her fully.

***

Hyuuga Neji; Jounin level shinobi of the village hidden in the leaf, leapt confidently and gracefully from branch to branch on the ancient trees that surrounded his home village of Konoha.

'_Who is this girl, and why is she so important that the Hokage deigned to bother me with such a trivial matter,'_ Neji asked himself this question for the hundredth time as he regarded the filth ridden bundle of female in his arms.

A sudden small gasp, coming from the general direction of the lump he carried, broke through his mental ranting. Neji spared her the briefest of glances before pulling her up more securely against his chest. For a brief moment, he felt her body tense, as if preparing to leap to the rushing ground beneath them. After his arms tightened of their own accord, he felt her relax into his hold.

The feeling of this unknown "female" lying pliant and unassuming in his arms caused an unfamiliar and wholly uncomfortable tightening in his own person. Neji swiftly picked up his pace, leaving his traveling companions, Lee and Tenten, behind in the wake of his superior speed. He was spurred on by his sudden need to be rid of this girl and the unwelcome, begrudged reactions she arose out of him.

***

Tenten tried to giggle softly behind her hand as she considered her normally stoic teammate's recent behavior.

'_This strange chain of events started with Lee,' _she thought, as her glance slid sideways to the green clad ninja running beside her—when didn't Lee ever not start anything strange, for all of them?

They were running behind schedule, because Lee had insisted that they stop and help some traveling merchants they'd come upon with a broken wagon wheel. Of course it wasn't the helping them that put them behind on their time table, it was the fact that Lee wouldn't leave until he found a gift for "his" little cherry blossom.

Lee continued to be presciently oblivious to the fact that the pink haired medical kunoichi would never; well, short of a serious blow to the head anyway, return his affections. Unfortunately, where Sakura was concerned, nothing could deter Lee from finding the "perfect gift." They had to wait for him before moving on.

Of course Lee's behavior wasn't what was strange. What was strange was the fact that Neji went along with this breach in protocol without so much as a muttered complaint or glare. In fact, Neji had seemed even more distant than normal, and some might say he was downright distracted by something. However, once they resumed their mission, Tenten merely dismissed the whole incident as nothing.

Though not as eccentric as their youthful teammate, Neji also had an odd characteristic of his own.

They managed to make up most of the lost time with Neji as their own personal slave driver. Despite that, they were still late; 10 minutes too late, to be exact. This minuscule error had lead to this girl's grievous condition.

Once they had arrived at the scene, Neji had quickly surveyed the area, and ordered her and Lee to go after their target's pursuers. The girl's attackers had proved quick as lightening; darting off in separate directions, making it impossible to follow them all.

So they turned back to their team leader's location. The sight that greeted them was abnormal, to say the least. First thing they became aware of was the actuality that there, on top of Neji's head, appeared to be a bird. The falcon was screeching and pecking at his forehead, angrily flapping its wings, its talons digging into his scalp, a thin trickle of blood tracking its way down his cheek.

Lee promptly fell over, hysterically laughing at the defeated expression on his "rival's" face, as Neji attempted to ignore the bird and continue with his examination of the girl. Tenten merely looked on in awe as she watched the Hyuuga prodigy rip off one of the selves of his traditional clothing, only to tear it into strips. He then used this, combined with rain water, to clean and bandage the girl's wounds as best he could.

Of course it wasn't the actions that shocked Tenten the most, it was the obvious care he was using with the girl, and the fact that he didn't seem like he felt the task was beneath him. Now that she thought about it, Neji didn't hadn't even acknowledged their presence until he was satisfied with the girl's wound coverings.

Neji looked over to Tenten, conveying his orders with his lavender eyes, only speaking her name. Then without another word, he gathered the girl in his arms, and took off in the direction of home, an angry bird still puffed up on his head. Tenten sighed; and, rolling her eyes, grabbed Lee who was still on the ground, and leapt off in the direction Neji had gone.

Thinking about all of this, Tenten's face briefly flushed with shame as her gaze slipped to the ragged, bloody and barely breathing, bundle carried by Neji. It was their fault this unknown girl was injured, and if she died before reaching the village their mission would be a failure. It was at this point Neji began to sprint ahead of them. This left Tenten, and even someone like Lee, to struggle behind him.

'_What's his problem?_, Tenten thought, perplexed by his sudden departure.

She looked over at Lee, who seemed to be oblivious as usual to anything out of the ordinary. He'd spent the last ten minutes gushing about how much his little flower would love the new lotus shaped hair comb he'd purchased. Tenten decided that she would discuss this issue with Lee once they returned to Konoha.

***

Once they reached the village, Neji didn't bother checking in at the gate, or heading in the direction of Hokage Tower, rather, he headed for the village hospital. His teammates panted behind him, even Lee was now picking up on Neji's change in behavior. However, Neji paid them, and the front desk of the hospital, no attention, as he sped down the hall in search of a certain person.

"We're with him." Ten-Ten and Lee called out, to the flustered looking front desk nurse, as they went running past her.

The white eyed shinobi resisted the unbidden urge to crow in delight, as he found the person he was looking for in the nurse's break room. Sitting at a round table, and drinking tea, were Sakura, Ino and his cousin, Hinata. Hinata was the first to stand, seeing the disheveled state of her usually composed cousin, and Sakura, seeing the dirty, injured human form he carried.

"….W-what happened?" Hinata asked in her quiet voice, as she shuffled her feet.

Neji didn't answer her, his eyes set on Sakura. He stepped up until he was nearly toe to toe with the pink haired girl; and for an instant, she thought she saw a pleading look in his otherwise placid eyes. It was gone just as quickly as it came.

The next thing she knew was that Neji had stiffly, but gently filled her arms with the girl he had been carrying. The bird on his head quickly transferred from his to Sakura's. Then with one last look at the girl in her arms, Neji's gaze flicked up to lock with Sakura's foam green eyes. Then without warning, he exited the room in the blink of an eye, through the open window.

"Where'd he go now?" Tenten and Lee cried in unison from the doorway.

The two exhausted ninja collapsed in a heap of weariness, as three medics, and an annoyed bird, watched the window's curtain flutter in the breeze.

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**I hope that you all enjoyed the second chapter, so please read and review. As always to my beta reader none-of-that you are a Goddess truly.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: As always I don't own Naruto in any way shape or form. If I did I wouldn't have to return Neji-kun when I was done playing with him**

**Story: What These Blind Eyes See**

**Chapter 3: Report**

**Characters: Hyuuga Neji/OC**

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**Beep…..Beep…..Beep**

Came the irritating, shrill mechanical sound; demanding she relinquish sweet oblivion in the favor of pained consciousness.

**Beep…..Beep…..Beep**

"_Ugh…..what's that sound?"_ came her mind's sluggish question as she mentally groped to get a handle on herself.

**Beep…..Beep….Beep**

Bit by bit, she managed to block out the droning sound so that she could take proper stock of herself and of what little she could discern of her surroundings. First thing she did was take in a deep breath hacking and coughing the whole way. The sickening sound and pain in her chest as her lungs filled bespoke her injury.

_"Okay….my lungs are bruised, possibly a few cracked ribs,"_ she thought as the pain traveled the length of her ribcage and beyond, _"defiantly a couple of lower broken ribs."_

She continued her examination of her person, starting at her feet as she gingerly wiggled her toes. The girl found that her legs and arms, much to her dismay, were restrained. Her mind started to panic and rebel at the thought of being tied down, but she quelled her fears knowing they would do her no good. After calming down and continuing her inspection, she also noted a pinched sensation in her left wrist. Lastly she opened her eyes which of course were next to useless; because, for her, the scenery never changed.

Changing gears, she decided it was time to focus on her unknown surroundings. This time she took in a gentler breath through her nose; as she scented the air, she attempted to _taste_ it, much like a snake does when it flickers its forked tongue. A multitude of similar smells assaulted her delicate nose. She set herself to the task of sorting through them all.

The chief priority among them was the smell of illness and blood, a sharp and tangy odor that leaves a bitter taste in the mouth while twisting your innards into knots. While that one was the strongest it was in no way the only one. She could detect the chalky scent of medicines, the harsh smell of chemical cleaners and plastic; she could smell plastic everywhere. All of this lead her to the conclusion that she was in a hospital, and from the sounds in the distance that filtered into her, she was in a busy one at that.

_"Okay, so I'm detained in a strange medical room with an insane beeping sound, and the last thing I remember is being chased,"_ she shuddered briefly as she remembered the rain soaked ground that slowed her escape.

She pushed that memory, as well as the dark events that lead her to being ran out of town, to the back of her mind as she thought to herself, _"Well, I think I've stayed here long enough,"_

She forced herself to lay flat against the bed; she slowly and completely relaxed every muscle in her body. She calmed herself to the point that she barely breathed, her heartbeat slowed and not a trace of tension could be found in her body. Slowly, she twitched her wrists, inching them from their confines. Her left hand snagged and she stopped moving it, but she eventually freed her right arm.

Reaching over with her free hand, she found the IVs that had hampered her movement. Bracing herself, she quickly and painlessly ripped them from her person, allowing them to flop away useless as they spilled blood and other fluids on the not so sterile floor. In retrospect, she figured the tubing was probably connected to an IV bag and a heart monitor which was no longer beeping at her.

She sprung from her bed recklessly as pain was blooming in her abused and unused limbs when she landed seemingly lightly on her feet. Grimacing and biting her tongue to keep from crying out, she continued forward as she failed to heed her body's warning. She put her arms out in front of her, taking only a few steps at a time until she came in contact with a solid wall.

"_Well, Amaya, what kind of trouble have you gotten yourself into this time?" _she thought to herself, all the while using said wall to quickly locate the door while leaning against it.

She concentrated; she reached inside herself where her charka flowed strong and bright in her mind's eye. Grasping hold of it, she cast it about her like an invisible net, showing the bustling life forces of those around her. She was able to discover two things by doing this; first, her door was oddly unguarded, secondly the hall was almost empty, save a couple people whose energy she brushed against and a family of mice who had a home in the wall down by her feet somewhere.

It was the mice who felt her, their energy flaring as hers brushed over them. She found it odd, humans were never aware of her _net;_ even the most skilled charka user would walk unknowingly into it, but animals were different. The animals in her net were always aware of her; she thought that it was a curious thing. Pushing those thoughts aside, she quickly set herself to the task of breaking out of her prison without Tebiki to be her eyes.

"You are dismissed," the Fifth Hokage spoke with authority.

Neji slipped into the Hokage's office passing by the exiting shinobi who was grumbling about having to make a sake run. He stood passively in front of his leader's desk waiting for acknowledgement.

"So I heard you managed to return the girl in one piece," Tsunade said without looking up from her paperwork.

"More or less," the shinobi before her answered.

This time Tsunade looked up meeting the eyes of Neji Hyuuga and managed to not flinch. Truth be told, from a young age she'd always found the eyes of the legendary Hyuuga clan frightening. However from a medical stand point they were quite fascinating. Although at this moment in time neither were the case for Neji's gaze was giving her a questioning feeling.

"I think less is the operative word here," she quipped in response.

The white eyed ninja remained stoic as ever. The Hokage folded her hands under her chin giving the Jounin before her a speculative look, assessing him as if he were one of her patients and not her underling.

"If that is …"

"Why are you here?"

"Excuse me?" Neji questioned, managing to still sound respectful.

"You heard me." The blonde gave a small smile, "And don't tell me you're here to give a report, because you and I both know that you always send another team member to do it." She leaned back in her chair, "All this leads me to believe that you're here after something."

"Who is she?" He asked directly; beating around the bush was not his forte, taking another couple steps closer to his leader's desk.

"If you're referencing the girl I had you bring in, I'm sorry to say I have no idea who she is."

Neji gave her an incredulous look, "You're not serious are you."

"I'm quite serious, hers is a curious case, I only took it because I found it interesting."

Tsunade yawned, arms reaching above her head, bowing her back, looking much like a bored cat. This visual image was far from the reality of it all, in-fact, she was highly amused by this whole conversation. Of course, she had expected someone to come questioning her; the Elders perhaps, sticking their noses where they don't belong. She had even considered the possibility of questions from Sakura. Although, Tsunade had never entertained the idea that Neji would even be remotely interested in the girl when she assigned him to lead the team; especially considering that the timing of it all had worked out so well for him.

"Besides, what's it to you who she is anyway," Tsunade gave him a pointed look, thinking she had cornered him, "especially since I heard you'd been looking for any reason to get out of the village…"

Neji manages to not flinch as Lady Tsunade's words and warning to back off the subject hit home. Just as the Hyuuga was about to excuse himself, a crashing was heard outside the door.

The next few moments were a flurry of activity; the doors were blown open as if by a powerful sudden burst of wind. The Hokage's papers were sent cycloning through the air as a tiny purple blur pasted over Neji's head. It was almost too fast for the shinobi to see, let alone track. Two other nameless ninja came barreling into the room in hot pursuit of something. A sharp, surprised gasp brought everyone's attention back into Tsunade's direction.

The sight that greeted everyone in the room seemed so impossible it was almost serial. A girl now stood behind Lady Tsunade, seemingly to have just appeared out of thin air. She was small in stature, with raspberry colored hair that fell in tangles around her face. Her eyes sparked wild like an emerald fire as she glared though narrow eyes. Of course, that is not what had set everyone off. It was what the girl was doing that filled the air with sparking charkra flow.

She had a fist full of the Hokage's blonde hair and bowed her back to keep her off balance. With eyes unfocused, she held a kunai knife right up against the throat of the taller woman. Then she spoke; her voice was soft with a hard edge, like a velvet covered blade.

"Where am I, Who are you, and what the hell is going on!"

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**I'm so sorry it took so long for me to update, please refrain from taking out contracts on my head. However I hope you have enjoyed this latest installment I will try to update again sooner.**

****Zips away to parts unknown after receiving her passport****


End file.
